The Sands of Tatooine
by SenatorBonteri
Summary: Rebel Warlord Lux Bonteri and a somewhat friendly acquaintance go on a small adventure to the desert planet controlled by Jabba the Hutt to reclaim a stolen treasure hoard for its rightful owners.


It had been a while since Lux had checked on the system of Mandalore. He was on his way to the palace when he accidentally bumped into an old acquaintance he'd made the last time he was there, shortly after he'd been defending the planet from the Unburnt Empire. "Oof!" He recoiled a little. "My apologies."

A silver and red helmet turned and glared at him. "Might want to watch where you're going around here pal." The shock at who it was that ran into her couldn't been seen past the blackness of her visor. "Oh, it's you."

With that, he recognized her. "Oh yeah! You're that mechanic who fixed my ship last time I was here." He gave a slight smile. "So... Ahem. How's business been for you?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well it was going good. But since you're back who knows. Did you bring another Sith with you to destroy my business and way of life?"

He started to explain. "Not that I'm aware of. No. From what I can tell, the whole galactic empire is preoccupied right now, dealing with a threat they won't tell me the nature of. Then again, so am I. Not with them though. Another evil empire. The same one that attacked Mandalore last time our paths crossed." He paused and said, "It's gotten stronger. I've had to up my game just to give them a decent fight."

"Well leave me out of it. I've got my own problems to worry about, Bonteri."

"Fine. Then I'd better get going." He started to walk on his way again.

Just then, the broadcasted voice of the prime minister of Mandalore could be heard all over the capitol city telling everyone that the planet's treasury had apparently been emptied last night by thieves. Then they could both hear shady voices coming from a large cargo ship that wasn't too far away. "That's the last of it, boss!"

"Great! Now let's get out of here before we're caught!" The second voice said.

Lux ran to where the voices were coming from... and saw Moralo Eval had escaped the dungeons on the last planet he was caught on, apparently. Now he was causing more mischief. "Does he have nothing better to do with his life?" Lux said to himself.

Aay'han had heard the broadcast and quickly followed Bonteri to where the voices were coming from. She wasn't going to Mandalore fall like its moons. She quickly drew her westars as she came up beside him. "Who the kriff is that?"

The ship's hatch closed... and then it began to take off. It was too late to stop them from getting away, now. "Moralo Eval. A somewhat renowned crime boss who ISN'T a Hutt. I'll explain after we've stopped him." He quickly threw a homing beacon onto the cargo ship's haul as it took off. "You coming with me to mine? I intend to follow it."

"Mandalore's moons fell to the empire. I'm not letting the planet itself do the same! So yeah, I'm coming."

"Alright then. My ship's a few blocks away from here. Quickly!" He started to run back to it as the criminals flew off into the air.

Aay'han followed quickly behind him. She had set the HUD in her helmet to track the outgoing ship. "They'll reach hyperspace before we can even get to your ship. Their velocity is too high. I hope that tracker of yours can work at light speed."

He got opened the hatch on his own ship and stopped short before boarding. "Ladies first?" He didn't know if she'd appreciate that at this time, but he said it anyway.

She rolled her eyes under her helmet and ran up the ramp quickly taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "Come on Bonteri! Let's get the rust bucket in the air!"

He rushed in after her and quickly got into the pilot's seat and took off. The cargo ship was almost out of sight of the naked eye now, but it was being tracked. He diverted all power to the engines as he began to chase it. "They're probably about to jump to light speed right now."

Sure enough, they made the jump about three seconds after Lux said that. Now it was up to the tracking beacon. Lux set his nava computer to follow the tracking signal. Then he made the jump himself. "Do you have turbo lasers on this thing?" Aay'han asked.

"I have guns attached to the ship, if that's what you mean." He replied as they followed the crooks through hyperspace.

"I can probably disable them if you can get me close enough to them."

"Sounds good to me." He smiled a bit and gave a nod of approval as the tracking beacon continued to work.

She nodded and headed for the gun turrets. "Ready when you are." Lux kept an eye on the tracking signal. Then it eventually became clear where the thieves were headed. Maybe they were trying to cover their tracks by framing another famous crime lord. Maybe they were actually working alongside Jabba the Hutt, even though it was less likely. Not even Jabba would be stupid enough to mess with Mandalore, in Lux's mind. But whatever the reason, they were headed for Tatooine. He came out of hyperspace when they entered the system. "I've got a lock on them. The moment we drop out of hyperspace I'll take out their engines." Aay'han said.

The criminals were in plain sight now. "Boss, looks like we've been followed. It's... it's Warlord Bonteri's shuttle."

Moralo Eval growled in frustration. "Ugh! That brat is EVERYWHERE!"

"Ready, aim, fire!" Lux said as he chased the other ship.

Aay'han fired multiple shots at the ship scoring direct hits on the engines fully disabling the ship. "OYA!"

"They've taken out our engines! What'll we do, boss?" The thug asked.

Eval just pulled his blaster out and killed his own men. Then he said to himself, "If I can't have the treasure hoard, neither can its rightful owners!" He initiated the self-destruct sequence on the cargo ship... then escaped in an escape pod. Then he watched from a safe distance as the cargo ship blew up... sending the crates full of the credits from Mandalore's treasury raining down onto random spots on the planet below. Some of the crates opened up on the way down... spilling out the contents in the process. "Just try and get all THAT back, Bonteri. Hahahahahaha!"

Lux wasn't giving up just yet. Nonetheless, he shook his head in mild sorrow as he watched that happen. "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

"Follow him!" She ordered. "He's not getting away with this!"

Lux sighed a bit then said, "Very well. We can try to recover the credits after we've caught him." He chased after the escape pod.

"There's no way to get all those credits back." She sighed. "Now it's about revenge!"

Meanwhile on the planet's surface below, from a moisture farm close to Mos Eisley, a 9 year old farm boy woke up his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. "Luke, where's the fire?" They asked.

"You're not gonna believe this but it's raining credits!" The youngster replied as he pointed out the window into the bio sunset.

Lux landed within sight of the pod. Then he got his speeder bike from one of the closets on his ship. Then he opened the hatch. "Did you bring a jetpack? If not, hop on in back of me."

She got on the back of his speeder bike. "First the empire, now thieves? Mandalore can't just be neutral anymore can it?"

Lux chuckled before starting the speeder up. "When surrounded by war, one must eventually choose a side." Then he went on over to the pod.

Aay'han quickly drew her westars and jumped off the bike as soon as it stopped. "Come on out, sleemo!"

"Hehehehehe…" The pod was empty now... and there were tracks going off in the general direction of the convict. As it turned out, he'd stolen a jet pack just in case he'd need it, while he was on Mandalore. Then the good guys saw him use it to take off! "Hahahahahahahaha! So long, suckers!" He shouted back as he out raced them and disappeared into the distance.

She took her bucket off and glared up at the receding figure for only a second before sighing. "My father was a hero, and yet I can't even stop a petty thief!" A string of various Mandalorian curses spilled from lips as she cursed herself and the universe.

That was when a band of Tusken Raiders came out of almost had seen the pod coming down and had decided to see what was up. They grunted as some of them began to charge at Aay'han and Lux, some of them armed with primitive guns. "Egh! Egh! Egh! Egh!"

Lux noticed them and turned around with his own blasters. "Sand people incoming!" He began to fire at them. She quickly threw her helmet on and opened fired, quickly picking off a few.

Both Lux and Aay'han shot down several, but it looked like there were still more coming. Not for long, though. A snapping sound followed by a hiss came from behind the duo... and the raiders took off in the other direction for what seemed like a strange reason. But then it became clear why when the humming of a light saber ceased to hum. Another hissing noise and then they both heard an elderly voice. "Hello there."

Lux had a good long term memory. But it didn't take a whole lot of research to know who it was. He turned around and asked the old man, "Hey… do I know you?"

Aay'han turned around suddenly. The last time she had heard the sound of that weapon it had killed her father. She leveled both of her blasters at the head of the newcomer. "It doesn't matter who he is, he won't be around for much longer."

Lux put his hands on hers and gently made her lower her blasters. "Rest easy. The last time this guy and I crossed paths, he gave me and my first band of companions the training we needed to retake our home world. Maybe he can help us again now."

The stranger shot Lux a grin and said, "Perhaps I could." He paused for a brief second then asked, "What do you need?"

"Help us?! The last time I met someone of his kind I lost my father!"

"Aay'han. He has the force on his side. He could probably help us track down the lost cases full of credits before sunrise, if we hurry. Put aside your differences with the Jedi... just for long enough. He's your only chance." He tried to persuade her.

"I CAN help you. But only if you'll accept my help, Miss Me'suum'ika." The old Jedi said calmly... not revealing what good he'd done for Mandalore in the past, at the risk of giving away who he really was.

She glared at him angrily. "I don't know who told you my last name but I'd prefer you not even talk to me. You're kind was the reason I was orphaned and my best friend taken by the empire! Because of you force users I have no one left! NOW KRIFF OFF!"

The man put on a sad and sincere look. All he could say was, "I'm so sorry."

Then Lux took him aside and whispered something in his ear. Afterwards, he said to his Mando friend, "Well, if you won't accept his help... I guess I'll go on this search for those missing crates with him myself. Mandalore is an ally I don't want to lose."

"Go ahead. I'll find what I can myself. I especially don't need any help from some force user." She put her helmet off and stormed off.

"Alright. Just call me on my com link if you find anything." Lux called back before starting to head towards his ship with the old hermit. Aay'han hopped on the speeder bike and headed off into the distance. As she sped along, most of what she could see was an endless sea of sand. Unless you knew the layout of this planet by heart... or were trained in the ways of the force... you'd have a tough time finding anything on your own. Aay'han kept her HUD going as she sped through the sands of Tatooine. She didn't care much for all the sand but she wasn't going to allow Bonteri and the kriffing force user to be right about anything. She sped along for another 30 minutes. Still nothing. As stubborn as she seemed to be... it would hopefully get to the point where she would have to admit she needed help. Because she only had the rest of the night. She stopped for a second to take a break. This place was probably the dullest planet in the galaxy. She had to get those credits back though. But it was getting late. Maybe she could find a safe cave or something to set up camp for the night. Then her com-link went off. The voice belonged to Bonteri. "We've recovered one of the crates from a few yards away from a stopped Jawa sand crawler. They were probably asleep, since they didn't try to stop us or get to it first." He paused then asked, "You made any progress, so far?"

She rolled her eyes the moment it went off. "No haven't found anything yet. I don't see how anyone could even live here. It's a barren wasteland."

"You sure you don't need help?" Lux cocked his eyebrow as he said that.

She wished her could see the glare on her face. "Look I didn't sign up to deal with force users alright? You want to leave him then I'll accept your help."

Lux rolled his eyes and smirked a little. "I may be a little thick headed, as well. But at least I know when to admit it if I need help. But if you insist..."

"Only help I need is to get what rightfully belongs to my home and its people, that's it."

"I know." He said simply.

"Good." She hung up on him and sighed. 'He doesn't get it.' She thought to herself. 'He wasn't there that day.'

Then the old hermit told Lux, "We're coming up on two more... near or inside the skeleton of the Greater Krayt."

Lux smiled again. "Excellent." Aay'han went on searching for a few more hours before finally deciding to call it a night. She found a cave in a rock outcropping and decided it would be as good a place as any to set up camp for the night. She parked the speeder inside it and sat against the wall, her HUD still going just in case. It wasn't long before she was asleep. By the time the twin suns started to rise, Lux and the old man had already recovered MOST of the treasure hoard. "This may not be ALL of it, but given we'll have competition from the locals for it in a few minutes... I think we can call our job done."

The old man smiled and said, "It'll be enough."

Aay'han woke up with the rising suns and decided to head back out again. She got on the speeder bike and hurried off into the distance. An hour later her HUD picked up something. "Yes! Got one!" As she got closer to it, she could see it was not far away from Jabba the Hutt's palace. There were two of Jabba's guards and a Rhodian bounty hunter coming towards it, too. "Oh no you don't!" She quickly fired 2 shots to get them to back off before pulling alongside the crate and getting in front of it. "This belongs to the people of Mandalore. You want it? You go through me!" She had her westars pointed directly at the men tracking their every move.

Greedo, the bounty hunter, put his hands behind his back, whistled... and quietly pushed a button on his holo-communicator. About thirty seconds later, another Mandalorian flew out onto the scene with his jet pack. But upon landing in front of Aay'han, he didn't attempt to attack her. Being a Mando himself, he didn't want to do anything hasty. Yes, he worked for Jabba. Yes, he was a bounty hunter. But no, he didn't want to hurt another Mandalorian... especially without knowing why. "State your purpose," he said.

Aay'han was surprised to see another Mandalorian way out there of all places. However, she knew this one was dangerous, everyone knew about the Fetts. She lowered her blasters but kept them in her hand just in case. "Yesterday a band of thieves emptied the Mandalore treasury. I came out here with another witness to reclaim the credits and the thief dropped the entire bunch onto the planet. I'm simply here trying to reclaim what are people lost. This crate is one of the ones filled with the stolen credits."

Boba thought for a moment, then said, "Take it. I won't stand in your way." Then he started to head back inside with the other three as he explained to them why he let her take it. Jabba wouldn't be very wise to want trouble with the Mandalorians over just ONE crate full of credits that didn't belong to him... even if he was a vile gangster.

"Vor'e." She said as she loaded the crate onto the speeder. She headed back out into the desert and decided to com Bonteri. "Hey Bonteri! I found one."

"That's great." He said, as he was about to com her himself. "Me and the old man got at least 32 more last night." He yawned a bit, drowsy from a slight lack of sleep. "But we have room for at least one extra. Great work finding it." Then he cleared his throat. "Ahem." His ship flew over where the speeder was, since he could track it from his shuttle, then landed. "Oh. I've already dropped the old man off back at his hovel. As far as he's concerned, our work here is finished."

"Wait... 32!? Why didn't you guys sleep?!" She just stopped herself there and sighed. "You know what? Never mind. We found them and that's all that matters."

"Yeah." His ship's hatch opened up... letting her ride onto the ship with that speeder and the crate it was towing along.

She got the speeder loaded and hopped off taking her helmet off in the process. "Well, that was an adventure."

"Compared to countless others I've been on... this was nothing." Lux closed the hatch, took off into space, and set the nava computer to go back to Mandalore. Then he jumped into hyperspace shortly afterwards.

Aay'han sat down in the copilot seat and rested her feet on the dash. "I will say. It was nice to get off Mandalore for a while. Things were getting kinda boring anyway."

"I haven't exactly been bored in a while. When you're in my company, there's rarely a dull moment." He smiled a little.

"Might have to consider being around you more often then, Bonteri." She smiled.

"Haha!" He came out of hyperspace in orbit of Mandalore. Then he landed just outside the palace after letting the prime minister know he was coming and why. Aay'han went into the cargo hold and began unloading the crates. Lux helped her unload them one by one. Once they got the crates unloaded, Aay'han stood to the side. Bonteri was the diplomat, not her. The prime minister shook Bonteri's hand and thanked him for his service. Lux made sure to say. "I wasn't alone. This mechanic, Aay'han... she helped. A little." He said, glancing back at her.

"I see." The prime minister then awarded them each with a Mandalorian equivalent to the medal of honor as a way of saying thank you.

"Gar're olarom." She said as she bowed in respect. Lux bowed in respect as well. Then the prime minister and his helpers took the crates back to the treasury where they belonged. "Alright. Now that that's taken care of, I guess I'll head back home, then." Aay'han said.

"I suppose so." Lux agreed. "If you ever feel like another adventure though, just let me know." He smiled a little.

"Sounds good." She smiled and walked off into the distance toward her shop. Lux flew off in his ship back to his rebel base.

THE END.


End file.
